Gibbs Hill Challenge 2011

14th August

With the country being hit by one of the worst polar blasts in years we were unsure what sort of day Takaka would deliver us. Not  wanting to ignore the warnings we left home equipped with loads of warm gear. I even packed the chains just in case takaka hill was in trouble.

What eventuated however was a cracker day in Golden Bay. The snow clouds swept were aside by the hills and a huge window of blue sky and winter sunshine greeted us as we entered Takaka, Golden Bay's big smoke. The Gibbs hill challenge involves a 23km road ride from Takaka to Wainui Bay (including 2km on gravel), a 20 odd km run over Gibbs hill, down to Totaranui then back along the coastal track to Wainui Bay where you get back on the bike for a return trip to Takaka primary school.

The start was typical of the Bay's amazing organisation with a lead car controlling the pace for the first 2km before the real racing began. We had a swift first ride with a few attempted break aways but nothing to worry about. Entering the final 2km on gravel our bunch had narrowed to a few strong contenders including mens team rider Cliff Bowman and my main competition Matt Ellery.

Onto the run I quickly lost sight of Cliffs pedigree teammate Phil Costley as he seemed to fly up the hill ahead. My thoughts then quickly went to the fatigue in my legs. I had 6 hours training on Saturday with 4 of those being on the bike. This was not going to be an easy day. After an hour of running we were back at sea level and I was very surprised to see Matt hot on my heels. He was having a great race. I For the remaining 50 minutes of what seemed like continual up hill running I dug deep, determined to keep the pace strong despite dreaming of the couch!

After 1:50 of running I entered transition with Costley running a blistering 16 minutes faster over the challenging course. The bike became a matter of keeping things moving as the Southerly was in full swing and unfortunately for us we were biking straight into it...

So after 3:21 of racing I was very pleased to roll over the finish line only 4 minutes ahead of a legendary performance by Matt Ellery who is showing some real form this year.

Fleur Lattimore had a textbook strong performance to win the ladies section ahead of Suzie Wood. Rach, despite 4 hours on her legs on Saturday had a strong race to finish 6th. Not bad for bugger all training!